diff --git a/Tethering/apex/Android.bp b/Tethering/apex/Android.bp
index 15b3938966..3f35c6b6c4 100644
--- a/Tethering/apex/Android.bp
+++ b/Tethering/apex/Android.bp
@@ -38,6 +38,13 @@ java_defaults {
     name: "ConnectivityNextEnableDefaults",
     enabled: true,
 }
+java_defaults {
+    name: "NetworkStackApiShimSettingsForCurrentBranch",
+    // API shims to include in the networking modules built from the branch. Branches that disable
+    // the "next" targets must use stable shims (latest stable API level) instead of current shims
+    // (X_current API level).
+    static_libs: ["NetworkStackApiCurrentShims"],
+}
 apex_defaults {
     name: "ConnectivityApexDefaults",
     // Tethering app to include in the AOSP apex. Branches that disable the "next" targets may use
diff --git a/service/Android.bp b/service/Android.bp
index 1523af9e7a..e1376a1fbb 100644
--- a/service/Android.bp
+++ b/service/Android.bp
@@ -138,6 +138,14 @@ java_library {
     name: "service-connectivity-pre-jarjar",
     sdk_version: "system_server_current",
     min_sdk_version: "30",
+    // NetworkStackApiShimSettingsForCurrentBranch provides the latest available shims depending on
+    // the branch to "service-connectivity".
+    // There are Tethering.apk and TetheringNext.apk variants for the tethering APEX,
+    // which use NetworkStackApiStableShims and NetworkStackApiCurrentShims respectively.
+    // Note that there can be no service-connectivity-next because it would need to be configured in
+    // default_art_config.mk which doesn't support conditionals, hence this scheme of using a
+    // variable here.
+    defaults: ["NetworkStackApiShimSettingsForCurrentBranch"],
     srcs: [
         "src/**/*.java",
         ":framework-connectivity-shared-srcs",
@@ -183,7 +191,6 @@ java_library {
         "PlatformProperties",
         "service-connectivity-protos",
         "service-connectivity-stats-protos",
-        "NetworkStackApiStableShims",
     ],
     apex_available: [
         "com.android.tethering",
diff --git a/tests/integration/Android.bp b/tests/integration/Android.bp
index e3d80a06db..12919ae60f 100644
--- a/tests/integration/Android.bp
+++ b/tests/integration/Android.bp
@@ -21,7 +21,10 @@ package {
 
 android_test {
     name: "FrameworksNetIntegrationTests",
-    defaults: ["framework-connectivity-internal-test-defaults"],
+    defaults: [
+        "framework-connectivity-internal-test-defaults",
+        "NetworkStackApiShimSettingsForCurrentBranch",
+    ],
     platform_apis: true,
     certificate: "platform",
     srcs: [
@@ -33,6 +36,13 @@ android_test {
         "ServiceConnectivityResources",
     ],
     static_libs: [
+        // It does not matter if NetworkStackApiStableLib or NetworkStackApiCurrentLib is used here,
+        // since the shims for the branch are already included via
+        // NetworkStackApiShimSettingsForCurrentBranch, and will be used in priority as they are
+        // first in the classpath.
+        // If the wrong shims are used for some reason, tests that use newer APIs fail.
+        // TODO: have NetworkStackApiStableLib link dynamically against the shims to remove this
+        // order-dependent setup.
         "NetworkStackApiStableLib",
         "androidx.test.ext.junit",
         "frameworks-net-integration-testutils",